The deposed mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, wrote from prison, where he was sent as part of an investigation into corruption in the Istanbul Greater Municipality, an article for the newspaper. "Financial Times", in which he highlights the role of a democratic Turkey for Europe's security, BTA reported.
"Our direction matters - not only for us, but also for the stability of the international order," the ousted mayor stated, highlighting Turkey's geographical position, which places it "at the crossroads of continents, cultures and conflict zones", as well as its role as a "key player in global trade, security and diplomacy".
According to him, Turkey's model of a secular, democratic republic with a Muslim majority, oriented towards modernity, has collapsed under the rule of Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the past 22 years.
"Democratic institutions have eroded, dissent has been criminalized and the judicial system has been weaponized," it writes he.
Imamoglu said that after the opposition Republican People's Party announced his candidacy for president, the government "has intensified its repression."
"They have inundated our administration with investigations and threats to disrupt municipal services. My university degree - issued more than three decades ago and required to hold the presidency - was arbitrarily revoked. Then, on March 19, four days before my candidacy was officially endorsed, hundreds of police surrounded my home. "I was detained on unfounded charges of corruption and supporting terrorism along with over 100 others, including my closest advisors and colleagues from the municipality," he says in the article.
Defining himself as a political prisoner, Imamoglu claims that sending him behind bars is not a victory for Erdogan.
"On the contrary, it caused an awakening. Students were the first to take to the streets. Hundreds of thousands joined them - organizing local rallies and boycotting media and businesses linked to Erdogan's patronage networks," he points out.
According to Ekrem Imamoglu, "the government's attempt to remove him" has created an artificial crisis that has forced the central bank to spend its reserves to support the Turkish lira and has sacrificed the course of returning to "rational" economic policy "in the name of political survival".
The ousted mayor of Istanbul also points out that his country's political orientation "is of central importance for the security of Europe, the transatlantic alliance and the wider Middle East and Caucasus region". According to him, at a time when the EU is striving to strengthen itself against growing challenges, "the presence of a democratic Turkey is indispensable".
"A regime that silences youth, suppresses dissent and rules through fear will only deepen regional instability", he also writes.
"Democratic solidarity around the world is now essential for building our common future. The global wave of retreat from democracy may have begun in Turkey. I believe that the resistance will also begin here", Imamoglu concludes his article.